The gum formed in a tablet shape is sealingly stored in a container made from a plastic or the like; however the container has a disadvantage in that it is needed to take out one or more gums with fingers by opening a lid or a container is made upside down, thus taking out a certain number of gums. In this case, it is almost impossible to precisely take out a desired number of gums because the container is inherently designed to have only a storing function.
The Korean utility model registration number 424929 filed by the same applicant as the present invention is directed to overcoming the above problems and is basically designed to discharge a piece of gum at a time in such a way that a gum container is divided into an inner container and an outer container with the inner container being designed to move upward and downward.
The above structure is characterized in that with gums being stored in the inner container 10, the gums move upward and downward as they are caught by an up and down movement shaft 21 of the outer container 20, the gums are placed one by one on a support stopper 22 secured to an upper side of the up and down movement shaft 21, a piece of gum is discharged through a discharge hole 31 formed at the lid 30 secured to the inner container 10, thus taking out the gum.
In the above constructions, there are disadvantages in that with the gums being filled in the inner container, when two gums are placed on the support stopper 22 secured to the upper side of the up and down movement shaft 21, the discharge hole 31 formed at the lid 30 match one to one with the support stopper 22 of the up and down movement shaft, which prevents the gum from being discharged.
When the up and down movement shaft 21 is molded integral with the outer container 20, cuttable pieces 21a are formed as the up and down movement shaft 21 is divided at regular intervals so as to accommodate a moisture absorbent at the up and down movement shaft in an attempt to prevent the gums stored in the inner container 10 from being moisturized. In this case, it is impossible to manufacture an up and down movement shaft in a precise upright posture since it might be bent inwardly or might be curved owing to a distortion in the course of a cooling procedure due to the nature of plastic.
While the inner container 10 repeatedly moves upward and downward along the up and down movement of the outer container 20, vibrations occur, which make a smooth operation impossible. In addition, a lot of formation time is needed during the formation procedure.
Since the lid 30 is concurrently secured to both the inner container and the outer container for sealing the container during the storage or transportation, the up and down movement shaft 21 of the outer container 20 pressurizes a cuttable cover 32 forming the discharge hole 31 of the lid 30, so a cutting line, which helps easily cut the cuttable cover 32, might be broken or the up and down movement might be bent. The cuttable cover 32 might not be cut off when pulling a pulling part 34 formed at the cuttable cover 32 by means of the above pressurization, in other words, the pulling part might be broken instead.
The support cover of the up and down movement shaft is in part exposed from the upper side of the discharge hole, with the cuttable cover 32 of the lid being removed for the gum which will be discharged as the inner container moves upward and downward in the outer container and can be easily picked up, thus pressurizing the cuttable cover of the lid.